The Warmth of a Home
by bellagill92
Summary: There was something special about having someone to come home to. Jerza Week 2016 - Days 5 & 6 - Home and Warmth.


**A/N: Please help yourselves to more cheese...**

It was a lovely thing, Erza vaguely mused, having someone to come home to. She had always imagined it would be, really, but she never would have guessed just how much.

Nine out of ten times, he was already waiting for her at the door of the wooden cottage they called a home. Well, those ten times being ones in which he was home when she returned and not away on a job or waiting at the guild or picking her up from the train station. Anyway, most of the time when he was home, it was like that: be it two in the afternoon or two in the morning, even if he was asleep up until five minutes before, his Erza radar would sound up and she would return to find him already at the door, holding it open for her.

"Welcome back," were the words that he would often say in those moments.

Her responses varied. In the beginning, she used to blush and stammer some sort of word of thanks or an awkward greeting. Later, she would feel bold enough to walk up to him and take his hand, squeezing it meaningfully before saying the words in a less uncertain fashion… and with time, the words became a kiss on the cheek… then later on his lips… which might or might not evolve into something behind closed doors.

And then, there were also the times when she was tired… so tired she might just drop at any moment – those times, she would just walk up to him, wrap her arms around him and hold on for dear life, as if he was a support beam that kept her on her feet. Depending on the state of her, he might just laugh it off or gently scold her for running herself so ragged, before managing to walk crab-like further into the house with her stuck to him like a barnacle.

That night, it was one of those last ones, with her making her return in the dead of the night looking beyond tired.

"Careful with the steps," he said while all-but pulling her up the stairs along with him.

"Mmhmm," was her unintelligible response against his chest – again, a typical one, that just had his lips curling in amusement. Erza suspected he found her funny like that, in her exhausted state, altogether incoherent and completely complying.

"Alright. Bed with you," he declared as they entered the room and he dragged her through that last stretch between the door and their bed.

She made a little sound of satisfaction as she fell, fully-dressed, onto the comfortable mattress, exposed with the covers pulled back, ready for her to get in. Yes – he was that proficient in the art of taking care of her.

It was easy to forget she was even a mage in times like these. Especially a requip mage. Many a time in the past, when she lived alone in that obscene gathering of rooms she had rented over at Fairy Hills, she had just succumbed to sleep while fully dressed, often wearing armor and everything, on the couch, which was first flat surface that she could find… and sometimes not even that, the floor doing just fine in the face of extreme exhaustion. The mornings that ensued after that were particularly uncomfortable with pains all over, from joints, to her neck and back, bad enough that they would sour her mood for the rest of the day.

Such a thing was no more, she considered while feeling her leg being gently tugged as Jellal unlaced her boots and slipped them off.

"How did the job go?" he asked, making small talk as he undressed her so that she wouldn't fall asleep just yet and make his job that much harder.

"Mmh… Fine… tiring," she mumbled.

He chuckled. "I could guess that much," he pointed out, reaching for the button and zipper of her skirt and pulling it down her legs along with her tights. She hummed, enjoying the feeling of him undressing her, even if there was nothing sexual about it – he knew better than to let such thoughts even cross his mind when she was that tired, same as she did. No, it was just… the closeness of it. After so long fending for herself, she enjoyed being so fully under his care. "Any serious property damage this time?"

He sounded a little farther away so she cracked one eye open to see what he was doing, only to find him folding her clothes before tidily laying them on the chair by the door. Her boots also stood neatly by the chair and it made her smile because it was such a Jellal thing to do. "Moderate," she mumbled before closing her eyes again. "All Natsu's fault."

She heard him laughing. "I'm sure," he said (unknowingly to her, not very convinced). The mattress dipped by her side as he sat on the edge of the bed and she felt his fingers brushing against her hip seconds later. She knew the question that was coming before he even uttered it. "What happened here?" He was referring to the bruise that she knew must have formed in that general area.

"Crashed onto a wall," she responded.

He nodded. "Do you have any more of these?" he asked, jumping into practical mode.

She raised her arms and he did not need any more prompting to know that she was asking him to remove her shirt. He did just that, that time not being as careful with the folding part because he had other priorities, and soon she felt his fingers brushing a particular area of her ribcage that she knew to be bruised as well, in addition to stretch of her arm that was sporting a bandage, the product of an errant sword that had managed to slip past her defenses. In all, it wasn't too bad, considering it was her – at least her injury was properly dressed, which wasn't always the case. Still, she knew Jellal was concerned, as always.

"Does it hurt?" he asked softly.

"Just a little."

A little was more than enough for him and soon the dip of the mattress eased as he got up, coming back a few seconds later after she heard him moving things around in the adjoining bathroom. She smelled Porlyusica's special healing salve before she actually opened her eyes and saw him unscrewing the jar, scooping up a decent amount.

She winced when he started spreading it over the largest bruise, which was the one on her hip, even though he did it incredibly gently, careful not to press too much. "Sorry," he said, feeling her reaction. "Just hold on. It will start feeling better in a moment."

It did. Porlyusica might be mean and violent, but she did cook up some miraculous medicines. Seconds after the salve was applied, the flesh below started feeling incredibly cold, as if being iced over, and that immediately eased the pain into a much bearable level.

Jellal took the same amount of care as he applied the salve to the bruising on her upper body and then covered each of the areas with a compress to keep the healing paste safely in place. After thoroughly quizzing her about the dressing on her arm in order to figure out when he should start worrying about changing the bandages, he helped her into her most comfortable sleeping clothes – consisting of an old, long-sleeved shirt that had once-upon-a-time been his and was long enough on her that she just wore it without bottoms around the house.

"Are you hungry?" he asked next. "When did you last eat?"

"Hmm… few hours? Can't remember. But it's okay… I'm not hungry. Too tired now," she mumbled.

He frowned. Her train ride shouldn't have been long, maybe an hour, but when one considered the many more hours she would likely sleep in order to restore her energy (sometimes nearing a day), when she was tired enough, that probably would lead to far longer without eating than advisable. No, that wouldn't do. "I'll get you something quick. You shouldn't go to sleep on an empty stomach."

"Jellaaaal," she complained, sounding rather childish.

"I'll be back before you know it," he promised. "Don't fall asleep."

She groaned as he exited the room, but somehow managed to stay awake, mostly because she wanted to fall asleep with him by her side. He kept it simple and, true to his word, came back less than five minutes later with a glass of milk and some cut-up fruit. She did start looking slightly less bothered by the delay to her sleep when she found a considerable amount of her favorite fruit there in the middle of the bowl – strawberries weren't even in season, so he must have gotten them especially for her.

"Eat," he said firmly and she did just that, almost ravenously, betraying her earlier statement of not being hungry in the most obvious of ways. He watched with amusement as, despite her clear eagerness to eat, she still picked every piece of strawberry she could find and left it for last, so that particular taste would linger in her mouth.

"There," she said a little defiantly after she was finished, milk and everything. "Happy?"

He smiled. "Very." Food had done her well – she already sounded much more alert thanks to it, although she still seemed tired enough that he had no doubt she would fall asleep within minutes of being tucked in. He picked up the napkin he had left on her nightstand and used it to wipe an errant bit of strawberry that remained on the corner of her mouth. Her cheeks colored a little but she leaned into the touch, prompting him to caress her face with his thumb after he was done. "I missed you," he told her. "The house felt hollow without you."

"I was only gone two days."

"Long enough," he declared, before reaching for a quick peck on her lips, his arm brushing her bare leg as he leaned forward, feeling the little goose bumps that formed on her skin. "Are you cold?" he asked after he pulled away.

He had lit the small cast iron wood burner in the corner of the room when anticipating her arrival, but it seemed like in his rush to welcome her, he hadn't re-stocked the wood, leading it to have gone out sometime during his nursing of her injuries.

"Just a little. No need to light the fire again," she responded.

He nodded. "Let's get you covered up, then," he urged, getting to his feet and pulling on the covers at the end of the bed.

She settled herself on the bed and then, cheekily, rolled to the side that was usually his, finding it still warm, as he had been occupying it up until her arrival. His only reaction to her conquering of his space was a soft chuckle as he pulled the blankets over her.

He grabbed the discarded bowl and glass n the bedside table and turned towards the door, but before he could even take a step, he felt her tugging at his pant leg.

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

"Just to put this down at the kitchen. I'll be right ba…"

"Come to bed and do that in the morning," she pleaded.

He would have argued – he really would have. But then, she shot him a look that was something between begging, demanding and accusing – a look that said 'I am tired and you are depriving me from much-needed sleep' and pressed just the right buttons for him to cave – and he knew that just wasn't a battle worth fighting. As such, he placed the dishware on the dresser and moved towards the bed. "We had better not make a habit out of leaving dirty dishes lying around, or else we might get ants…"

The redhead made a sound that appeared to express agreement but could have just as easily been 'shut up and start acting as my pillow', given how quickly she gravitated towards his body as soon as he got under the covers too.

"Comfortable now?" he asked

She nodded, their legs tangled. "Warm… home with you 's always warm… more home-y. 't's nice… having some to come home to." It was even nicer that the someone in question just happened to be him with his kindness and gentle care.

He smiled, mostly because he knew just the feeling. "It is," he easily agreed. "Now go to sleep because you look like you need it. I'll be here in the morning."

She buried her face on his shoulder and hummed. He didn't need to say that twice.

 **The end**

 **A/N: Hope you guys liked it! Feedback is most welcome!**


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